"Kid, are you really not planning to get married?"
At the entrance of the residence, after seeing his sister-in-law lead Tsunade away, Senju Tobirama turned to Renya and asked.
"Uncle, who can say for sure about things like that?" Renya replied. "Right now, I have no plans to get married."
He had no interest in women—at least, he had not met anyone who interested him.
Instead of wasting time finding a partner, he'd rather spend that effort on getting stronger and conducting research.
Before meeting a girl he truly liked, he would most likely end up like Senju Tobirama—living alone for his entire life.
Renya didn't believe he would ever meet someone he liked. Being single was actually quite good. Every day was filled with training, concocting poisons, and cooking for this old man.
Such a life was already fulfilling. There was no need to waste time by finding a woman.
"As long as you have your own plan, that's fine." Senju Tobirama gave a small nod and didn't press further.
After all, he himself was still single—he had no reason to force Renya.
In his eyes, as long as Renya was happy, whether he got married or not didn't matter…
This kid was good-looking; it wasn't like he'd have trouble finding a partner.
The Uchiha clan, inherently sinister as they were, still produced very attractive men and women.
With such looks, finding someone was not a problem—it all depended on whether Renya was willing or not.
Renya gave a perfunctory nod, not taking Tobirama's words to heart.
Marriage? Impossible. Absolutely impossible in this lifetime!
Didn't Tobirama himself never get married?
Since this old man wasn't worried, there was no reason for him to be.
Tobirama glanced at Renya, then withdrew his gaze.
He had mostly figured out the boy's thoughts—likely, just like himself, he had no intention of marrying.
In other words—he had no interest in women.
"Kid, don't stay home all the time. Take some time to walk around outside." Tobirama said.
Every time Renya returned from the battlefield, he either stayed home, went to the lab to make poisons, or delivered meals to Tobirama at the Hokage office…
This kind of three-point routine had no form of entertainment at all.
Tobirama worried that if this lifestyle went on too long, Renya's mind would start to develop problems.
And with the Uchiha, the scariest thing of all was when they developed psychological issues—no one knew what they might do the very next second.
Even if Renya now bore the Senju surname, his essence was still that of a sinister Uchiha.
And the Uchiha's mental instability was extremely dangerous!
Tobirama absolutely could not allow the boy he had raised from childhood to develop psychological issues. After all, one day, Renya was meant to inherit the position of Hokage.
Even if Renya showed no interest in the role, Tobirama had ways to make him desire it.
At the core of it all, Renya was still too young.
With a little guidance, he would surely develop the dream of becoming Hokage!
In Konoha, a ninja who didn't want to be Hokage was not considered a proper ninja.
This, of course, was a result of the education system at the ninja academy.
And since Tobirama was the founder of the academy, he was the one ultimately responsible.
But his original intention had been to give the ninja a sense of belonging to the village.
After all, the most important thing in a shinobi village was cohesion!
Hokage was the goal everyone aspired toward.
In recent years, every student who graduated from the academy carried within them the dream of becoming Hokage.
On the path toward chasing that dream, they would become stronger and stronger—eventually becoming the backbone of the village. Some even succeeded in realizing their dream and actually becoming Hokage!
Any student who studied earnestly at the academy would inevitably develop thoughts of becoming Hokage.
So why didn't Renya want to be Hokage?
Tobirama more or less knew the answer—it had to do with his five-point score on cultural subjects…
With grades like that, Renya clearly hadn't learned the Will of Fire. He might not even know what the Will of Fire was.
This kid only saw the endless piles of documents the Hokage had to process each day.
But he didn't understand what those documents represented.
They encompassed the village's affairs, its planning, and its development.
All of these required the Hokage's direct attention in order for the village to grow.
And only with the village's growth could the lives of its people improve, and its shinobi gain more opportunities to grow stronger.
In short, the Hokage was the key to the village's strength!
A competent Hokage was absolutely vital to the village.
Tobirama believed that in personality and conduct, Renya was much like himself. With proper education and guidance, the boy could become an excellent Hokage.
"I understand."
Renya had no idea that in such a short moment, this old man had thought through so much in his head.
Back during the war, weakness meant an easy death on the battlefield.
To survive, he had focused solely on training and concocting poisons.
When would he have had the time to relax?
But now that the war was over, he really could take a break.
The Second Great Ninja War was still far off.
If memory served, Tsunade would already be grown by then, which meant it was still more than twenty years away.
That was plenty of time—enough for him to develop biochemical weapons.
Once unleashed on the battlefield, entire armies would fall in an instant.
As for that so-called "Demi-God," Hanzō of the Salamander, he would be nothing before Renya's poisons—not even worthy of comparison.
Renya planned to head to the Land of Rain sometime soon, to see for himself just what this so-called demi-god Hanzō was all about.
...
Seeing Renya agree, Tobirama's eyes revealed a trace of satisfaction.
He knew Renya had listened. The boy had always been obedient, never requiring much attention.
"As long as you understand. I'll head back to the office now."
Then, as if remembering something, Tobirama added gravely:
"The documents a Hokage processes concern the development of the village. They are extremely important!"
He wanted Renya to understand that those mountains of documents were no trivial matter. Handling them required seriousness and time, not mechanical stamping.
This boy had once refused the Hokage seat, citing the endless documents on the desk as his reason.
Back then, Tobirama had been left speechless. Only after Renya left did he think of a rebuttal.
Now he spoke up, wanting Renya to understand the true importance of those documents.
Surely, the boy understood what he meant?
With that thought, Senju Tobirama walked straight toward the Hokage office, not noticing the confused look on Renya's face.
"What the hell was that old man rambling about?"
Renya stared blankly at Tobirama's departing back, utterly puzzled by his words.
The Hokage's documents were very important—what did that have to do with him?
If they were important, then just handle them properly yourself! Why tell me about it?
I'm not the Hokage!
If you want someone to care, shouldn't you be talking to Danzo instead?
Clearly, Tobirama was overthinking things…
Renya had completely missed the hint.